“I’m positive the Knicks have called just in case Dwight changes up,” an Eastern Conference GM said. “I’m sure they’ve offered a combination of everybody, excluding Jeremy Lin, of course. Otis deserves a lot of credit for not putting it out on the street which teams have offered what.”

Think interim owner James Dolan might be willing to do whatever it takes to satisfy management and slink away with Howard? To be precise, make the Magic as whole as possible and keep multitudes of fans coming to Amway Arena.